Room to Think

Manarola, third of the Five Lands Another Friday is here, and I'm ready! Today's Florence Friday is a follow-up on the Amalfi Coast.  We're going to learn a little more about it's cousin to the north, Cinque Terre. Also, I have an embarrassing admission to make. The first picture in my Amalfi Coast Blog , is actually a picture of Manarola. >.< See how confusing this is??? Cinque Terre is probably the coastline I laid eyes on first in my google searches, as it is much closer to Florence than the Amalfi Coast is. This map is particularly helpful to me...what with my need to learn basic Italian geography before I head over there. >.< **also, Milan isn't on there, but from my hotdog pizza post, I know it's more north than Venice is! =) Like the Amalfi Coast, Cinque Terre is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site (Cinque Terre National Park), and it literally means "The Five Lands".  These five lands are the five villages along the co...

Boy, I think I need to come up with a new schedule. I got a new job last week! I'm coaching my old high school volleyball team.  =D  Yeah, I play volleyball...apparently well enough to coach too, since my girls haven't lost yet with me as a coach (Shhh, that's only two games, but hey, it's something!) The reason I think I need to come up with a new blogging schedule is because we have games on Tuesdays and Thursdays--so I don't get home until 9:30 or 10 some nights. Those nights make for rambly, rushed, half-assed blogs, or me not wanting to roll out of bed the next morning because I didn't get to do yoga or get enough sleep. Like tonight. Here is tonight's TEDtalk.  It's given by a woman named Amy Cuddy, a social psychologist. Since I'm currently looking for another job to supplement my meager school district income, I thought her talk was particularly relevant to the interviews I'm bound to have in the future. She claims that she can ma...

Cinque Terre! NOT the Amalfi Coast! Whoops! I've never posted here about the Amalfi Coast (Costiera Amalfitana), but it's one of my favorite places to post on my Italy Tumblr . I love the colors of this place...granted, this particular picture is edited to increase vibrance, but I'd love to take a picture like this for myself one day. The Amalfi Coast is in Southern Italy, actually at the Southern tip of the Sorrentine Peninsula. It's actually listed on the UNESCO World Heritage Site . Most of their commerce is related to tourism, since there's only one road in and out of the area. Because they're listed on a coastal cliff there isn't much room for agriculture, unlike the rolling vineyards of Florence's Tuscany. However, they are known for their limoncello liqueur--because they can grow lemons, known as "sfusato amalfitano" in terraced gardens along the coast. More exciting than booze, though, I found out that the Amalfi people ...

As requested, I'm going to make an attempt at bringing Florence Friday back. I was running out of pictures and the energy to research more, so I just let myself fall out of it. Unfortunately, I lost a good chunk of you dear readers, and I want to bring you back too! In the last few weeks, I heard a story about a woman from Milan who was visiting the States. When she was asked what her favorite Italian food was, she kinda squirmed a little and said, "Well, I'm from Milan. We're right on the border. But I actually really like pizza." "Great!" we said. "What kind?" And here, she sort of blushed a little and said, "Well...being so close to the border of Switzerland and Austria and all...you're going to think this is weird, but, my favorite pizza has hot dogs on it." Yep. The exotic Milan woman likes HOT DOG PIZZA. I couldn't believe it. So, like any good internet fiend, I turned to my good friend GOOgle(images). ...

I've been out of the house on a scavenger hunt for men's jeans today, but when I got home and checked my email, guess what I had in my inbox???? a priority invite to TEDxVancouver!!! Okay, so I did  sign up for priority registration notifications....and everyone who clicked that button gets one of these...but...but...it's exciting anyway. I sent a request to be an intern for TEDxVancouver back when I lived in Bellingham, and I'm kinda wondering if they'll contact me for volunteers now. Either way, this is almost as good as getting an email from Chris Anderson himself, although he won't be present at this one. I also don't know if I"ll be attending.  It's very soon, and this ticket reservation I got expires in three days, and $100 is a lot of money for an unemployed potential technical writer, especially when gas is over $4 again.  =( But if any of you are interested in driving up to Vancouver to check out the whole day, just clic...

Hello everyone, I've had a busy day and my legs are aching with that not-enough-sleep feeling. Lately, I've been having nightmares with spiders infesting my room.  At least when I dream, no one is chasing me down a street calling me a failure (That would mean you have Nightmare disorder). I originally wanted to find a TEDtalk for one of my best friends, Donelyn, who is starting her own blog about engineering and design and activism. She's a wonderful writer, and she's starting to figure out what she's doing in life and I'm all for it. Originally I had wanted to do today's post on a TEDtalk relating to her. That TEDtalk will have to wait for next week. I have several in mind, but I don't have the time to write and reflect on them right now, given that I forgot it was Tuesday and spent 4 hours at a Starbucks caught up in conversation with a fellow writer. Now it's after midnight and it's not even Tuesday anymore. You know my rules, tho...

The time has come again for another post about my brilliant sister's artistic nail talents. The other ones I had about her were some of my more popular posts, so I guess I'll give you more of what you want. You would not believe how many times Kae has painted her nails since my last post about her nail designs....pretty much every week, people.  Yeesh. Also, I think our --- her --- nail polish collection has doubled just over the summer. We even threw out a bunch of my super old colors.  On average, I'd say she buys a new color every week (that's factoring in the weeks she doesn't buy one AND the weeks she decides to splurge on multiple). It doesn't help that I'm home, either. I just give her more opportunities to spend money. You should have seen her face when I handed her two coupons for nail polish the other day. Her new thing now is the super thin brushes that you -- assuming your hand doesn't shake like an old lady -- can use to creat...